


First Sight / First Contact

by stelliums



Series: KH Rarepair Collection [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: First Dates, M/M, One Shot Collection, POV Hayner (Kingdom Hearts), POV Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, other characters not mentioned in tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25959376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliums/pseuds/stelliums
Summary: A pair of Hayner/Ventus oneshots for the lovely QuinoaChaos's birthday.
Relationships: Hayner & Olette (Kingdom Hearts), Hayner/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: KH Rarepair Collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912663
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. First Sight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QuinoaChaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuinoaChaos/gifts).



The first time that his eyes had discovered Ventus, he had found it impossible to look away.

Twilight Town had become a haven for weary Keyblade wielders. Whenever they arrived, weapons in hand, Hayner had made it a habit to scour the small crowds for Roxas. His friend had spoken a few times of moving to the town, something about starting a new life with the people that he cares about. Each day that the wielders arrived was as likely as the next to be Roxas’s first day as a permanent fixture of Hayner’s own, real world.

That day there were only three Keyblade wielders in the square. Hayner sat atop a wall, watching the newcomers have a heated discussion about... something. One of the three, dressed in blue to match her hair, rested a hand on her hip and gestured over to one of the local cafés. The tallest crossed his arms, adamant. He could guess that they were, like most visitors, struggling to choose between the town’s many eateries and food stalls.

For a moment, he thought that he saw Roxas with the arguing couple. Then he blinked and leaned forward. His hands gripped onto the wall to narrowly prevent himself from falling. The stranger wasn’t Roxas, although he seemed like an imitation of his friend to an untrained eye. This boy may have had Roxas’s golden locks in the light of his home’s infinite twilight, but in daylight Hayner could guess that it would otherwise be a paler shade of blonde. His eyes, gazing up at his friends with hope of a final decision, were a startling shade of blue. The colour of the sea in some far-off island, one of his more poetic friends would have described them. Hayner wasn’t the poetic type, though he would avoid falling asleep in English class if it meant that he could more accurately describe the boy that he had concluded wasn’t Roxas.

His head ran through the list of names that Roxas had bought up in idle conversation. The blue-haired young woman was aptly named Aqua, but he couldn’t recall the name of the man with her or the boy. He let out a frustrated sigh and allowed the question of ‘why don’t you just ask him’ to seep into his thoughts. When he looked up, though, the group was gone and the café bell rung with the sound of new customers.

It would be creepy, stalker-ish even, to even think of following them inside. The thought had crossed his mind but he knew of subtler ways to find information on rather attractive strangers. Hayner hopped off of the wall and wandered in the direction of the café. He passed the wide, curved windows and restricted himself to a brief peek at the boy, being served coffee by Olette. Hayner ripped a poster from the wall. A summer job there seemed more fun than it had when Olette had first suggested it.

“Hey, Roxas. Do you know a guy– short, gold hair, doesn’t usually show up here? Can you tell me more about him? No, I’m not trying to be weird, I just want to know– crap, voicemail again.” Hayner put his phone down from his ear and shoved it back into his pocket. Roxas was an informative source but not the most reliable. With a sigh, he spun on his heel to step inside the café. Stalker-ish it was, he supposed.

“Hayner! Didn’t expect to see you here– what can I get you? Hot chocolate? Latte?” Olette beamed when he took a seat at his usual table in the corner. The Keyblade wielders were situated merely a few steps away.

He raised his head from his arms. Someone would kick him out if he stayed inside without buying anything. “Uh... a brownie. Just a brownie.” Hayner muttered. It was the first thing that came to his mind, and the brownies that were baked at this particular café were delicious. “Olette– do you know anything about those people? Table five?”

Olette took a glance at them and shook her head. “Nope, they showed up this morning. I think they’re just visitors, though. Why, what’s so special about them? I know they’re Keyblade wielders, but... they’re not exactly rare here any more, are they?”

Hayner could feel his face heating up. The topic of people that he found attractive didn’t usually come up in conversations between he and Olette. They had made an agreement after they had taken each other to prom one year not to be involved in each other’s love life. “I dunno, just curious.”

“It’s the blonde one, isn’t it? Do you have a cruuush?” Olette teased and stuck out her tongue. She moved out of the way of Hayner’s hand when he jokingly tried to hit her arm. “Hey! No brownies for you!”

He placed some cash on the table and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him. “There, I paid for it.”

Before he realised that Olette had already left, his friend was behind him with a plate in her hand. She ruffled his hair and made him jump. “Just kidding! Enjoy your brownie, and the view. I’ll join you on my break!” Olette winked over her shoulder, unable to contain her fit of giggles.

Hayner and Olette weren’t the only people laughing. The blonde boy was chuckling from the other table. Had he overheard their conversation? Did he know that they had been talking about him? His older friend was hiding his own laughter behind his hand. Aqua sipped her coffee, trying to ignore her friends.

“Ven, stop it! Sometimes you’re such a child...”

The boy grinned and bit into a cookie. At last, Hayner knew his name. Ven. Ven– it sounded like a nickname, a name that was gifted use to only the fondest of friends. Hayner whispered it under his breath. “Ven.” It felt soft against his lips, like the petals of a flower. Or a kiss. A kiss that tasted of chocolate chips and cookie dough.


	2. First Contact

“Hey! Hey, over here!”

Ventus turned to meet the boy that had called him. He only vaguely recognised him, and only from Roxas’s descriptions at that. The stranger – he couldn’t say that they knew each other well enough to be friends – had spiked up, dusty blonde hair and a friendly smile on his face. He waved back at him. The gesture came off a little shyer than he had intended but his smile was as effortless as ever.

Hayner darted over to him. “So, are you up for tonight? You do know it’s the festival later, right?” When Ventus didn’t answer, trying to recall when or if anyone had ever mentioned a festival to him, Hayner continued. He flung an arm around his shoulders. “Here’s the plan– the top of that hill over there? The best place to watch the processions! The guys are helping out with the floats, so we’ll be the only ones up there.”

“Really? What are they doing?” Ven tried to keep up with the conversation. He had only been to Twilight Town on a few occasions, and those had never been to see a festival of any kind. Roxas hadn’t chosen to introduce himself to his friends in the town. Maybe he was embarrassed about how similar they looked.

That was when the realisation hit him. Hayner must think that he was talking with Roxas. There was no other explanation for his plan, a plan that involved the two of them being alone together.

“Well, Olette’s helping out with some of the organisational stuff and Pence is working on the mechanics and tech. They said it would get them extra credits for school if they volunteered, but I already made these plans for when you showed up. We were going to meet up with them, too, but they sort of flaked on us.” Hayner shrugged. “Screw it, we can have a great time without them! They worked really hard on this, so they’ll be glad to know we’re watching all of their amazing work play out.”

Ven chuckled, mostly to himself. How far in advance had Hayner been planning this for he and Roxas? He felt for his phone in his pocket. He should call Roxas; Hayner was one of his closest friends, outside of Axel and Xion. If he went along with the plans that Hayner had organised for the evening, Roxas would miss out on something that Hayner had intended for him.

“How did you know I would show up today?” He asked instead. Ventus followed Hayner through the crowded streets. They passed through queues of people lining up for toffee-covered apples, trinkets embrued with magic and street food.

His guide didn’t look back at him until they were away from the square. “Lucky guess? I have my ways.” Hayner turned over his shoulder to give him an effortless smile. Even without knowing him well, Ven could tell that it was a trademark of his. It was a cheeky, schoolboy grin. “Come on, I have something to grab before we go up there.”

His hand was tugged roughly through the streets that led up to what he could only guess was Hayner’s home. A simple, brick house, attached to two other identical homes. Hayner held up one hand as if to tell him to wait outside, so he leaned against the wall while Hayner entered. Ven had thought that he might be invited inside – Roxas was Hayner’s friend. He must have been inside his house before. He took his phone out of his pocket and stared at the blank screen.

“Okay, everything’s ready.” Ven overheard Hayner murmur to himself. He tried to block out what he was saying. His words were for himself and himself alone. A deep breath came from the hallway. “You’ve got this. You’ve got this. It’s just like asking someone to prom.”

Ventus had never been to a prom and only had a vague idea of what going to one entailed. He had little time to consider what Hayner could have meant when he appeared beside him again. A wicker picnic basket was perched on his arm. Ven felt his stomach rumble at the sight of the sandwiches and cakes poking out from inside. Was that his surprise? A picnic?

“Is that for us?”

“Why else would I take you here? It’s not a long walk up to the hill, so I figured we can eat up there. Y’know, all... scenic and stuff.” He sounded as though he had initially thought of a different word to describe the scene yet thought better of using it. “I’m sure you’ll love it!”

As they carried on towards the vantage point, Ven watched the residents of Twilight Town carrying equipment back and forth in elaborate, sequin-studded costumes. He paused to take in the air of togetherness and community that radiated from the sight. It made him wonder if Roxas had ever participated in the festival himself. Hayner had found no reason to explain it to him, so he was sure that Roxas had been there to witness it if he had not been involved himself. He looked back to find Hayner standing with him, a few paces behind. They were both bathed in the multi-coloured, fluorescent lights of the festival. He offered him a smile, apologetic for being caught up in it all. It was all so new to him but Hayner wouldn’t know that.

It took a few minutes for him to realise that Hayner had been staring too.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? Back home, there wasn’t enough people around to organise something like this.” He, Aqua and Terra had thrown many parties together. Their largest had been for Master Eraqus’s birthday; they had worked tirelessly for weeks to prepare a feast for them all. His fond memories paled in comparison to the Twilight Town festival. He would have loved to throw his friends or his guardian a party like this.

“You’ve never been to a festival, have you?” Hayner’s fingers hesitantly grasped at his. Ven responded to the fleeting brush of hands by holding onto his, without Hayner’s hesitance. His eyes, still fixated on the festival that was being brought to life before him, reflected the shifting multi-coloured lights. “Huh... I guess I’ll have to show you a good time at this one, show you around everything. So that you’ll come back.”

Ven shook his head. It was difficult to reconcile his knowledge of Roxas’s short time in Twilight Town with Hayner’s words. Roxas had been in the town for a little over a year - if the festival was an annual event, Ventus doubted that Roxas would have missed it.

He squeezed his hand. The gesture that was natural to Ven made Hayner’s face glow red in the fluorescent light. “Come on, we should go before we get squashed by the floats.” Hayner tugged him along towards the top of the hill. It wasn’t a particularly long or steep climb.

A cooler breeze signified that the day was coming to an end. The sky was painted the same brilliant shades of pink and orange that he had arrived to. Hayner placed the picnic basket down and spread out a checkered blanket. They sat close together so that they would both fit on top of it.

“Wait— hang on– sorry, I–“ Ventus murmured as he tried to avoid tangling their limbs when Hayner tried to sit down. His friend – he guessed that he was able to call him a friend now – only laughed and threw his arms around him. He took a sandwich out of the basket and handed one to Ven.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so tell me if you don’t like it. We haven’t talked much since... ever, really. I probably should have talked to you more before asking you out on a date– you always seemed so busy whenever I’ve seen you before–“ Hayner paused. “Ven– can I call you Ven? Are you alright?”

In between bites, Ven listened to Hayner ramble. It was as though he had forgotten that he was there. “You– you mean you _didn’t_ think I was Roxas?” His eyes were wide. Had Hayner taken the chance and taken him, a stranger, on a date, without knowing him at all? The idea sounded more than crazy.

“You’re kidding, right? You and Roxas are _nothing_ alike!” Hayner turned to look at him instead of the festival. “Actually, Roxas helped me plan it all out. He’s a good buddy. I mean, you didn’t even try and steal any of the food while I was distracted!” He rolled his eyes. “That’s typical Roxas. I would’ve known if he was playing a prank on me, pretending to be you and seeing if I do anything dumb, like–“

“–like... kissing a stranger?” Ven joked and leaned towards him. Hayner closed his eyes expectantly, then closed the gap between their lips. Suddenly the idea sounded much less dumb than it had when he had said it.

Hayner grinned. His arms hung over Ven’s shoulders. Ventus traced a finger over his own lips, dumbstruck. “Yeah, that _would_ be dumb. But you don’t count, right? I was going to ask a stranger to go out with me, but I chickened out.”

Ventus watched him sit back down and take another sandwich for himself. His heart still hammered in his chest from the kiss that they had shared. He smiled to himself and tried to watch the festival instead. Somehow it paled in comparison to the boy beside him. He was the most normal person that he had ever met and yet he found that more exciting than many of the adventures that he had been on.

“Hayner. What would you say if a friend asked for another date?”

“I’d say... any time.”


End file.
